47
Nurse
Andrey
The sound of the little bell made me growl under my breath. My men glanced at me sideways while the Capulets chewed on their smiles.
We were playing a game of poker and you could sense the tragedy brewing.
We had been confined for several days, not all of us, just those convalescing from what happened at the hotel. We had strict orders not to leave the house until we were medically cleared. A private doctor visited all of us, and those who needed surgery were taken to his clinic.
The rest of the staff remained patrolling the surroundings. We were on red alert. A major confrontation with the Chinese was brewing and a war between mafias like no other could break out at any moment.
I was the one who gathered the papers in my hands, closed the gap with firm steps, and slapped them against his chest.
”Congratulations.”
”Is it mine?!” he exclaimed.
”No! You”re off the hook! That’s why I congratulated you.” He gave me a disgruntled grimace.
”What do you mean I”m off the hook?” I went to get a bottle of vodka from the liquor cabinet and drank straight from it.
”When one door closes, a bottle opens.” I lifted the glass container and took another long sip. This time, it was Romeo who started looking through the papers. ”Adriano is a Korolev, so I”ll take care of him. You don”t need to have any more contact with him.” He looked at me incredulously.
”But what are you saying? I don”t want to be free of my son.”
”He’s not your son, he”s my brother”s, he”s my nephew and therefore a Korolev,” I confirmed, taking another drink. I needed a good dose of vodka to digest it.
”Just because his sperm got there first doesn’t make your brother his father. I’ve been living with the kid for six months and he considers me his dad. These results change nothing.”
”Of course, they change everything. Adriano is ours and must be raised in the bosom of my family.”
”I am his family, and so is my sister, and my father, and of course, now you! Don”t talk nonsense! We”re married! We”ll raise him together! He”s suffered enough already to be told that I”m not who he thought I was,” he grumbled, stressed.
”He”s a child, he”ll get over it, just like everyone else when they”re told that Santa Claus is their parents. We have to tell him that Yuri was his father.”
”Wait, wait.” He stopped me by grabbing the bottle. ”Have you gone mad? You can”t just drop that bomb on him. I didn’t mind the tests so you could feel better, but from there to say that we have to... that... For now, I don”t see it necessary, let’s wait until he”s older and can understand how his conception happened...”
”Do you want to wait until he”s eighteen and let him live a lie? No! I”m sorry, I refuse. He needs to know that he is my
brother’s son and that I am his aunt.”
My husband rubbed his face, desperate.
”But if just recently you didn”t even want to see him!”
”Because I thought he was yours.” As soon as I said it, I knew I had hurt him. ”And, well, because I”m not much of a babysitter, but that”s beside the point. My mother knows a lot about raising kids and she”s his grandmother, he”ll be better off in Saint Petersburg with her.”
”No way!” he roared. ”Adriano is not going anywhere with Jelena. I don”t care if she”s raised a regiment. Adri stays here, end of story.” We both stared at each other defiantly. ”And this,” he waved the papers, ”changes nothing, you”d better get used to the idea.”
He threw the papers forcefully onto the counter and looked at me with spite.
”Are you done? Is the tantrum over? Do you want to act like an adult instead of a damn kid who”s had his bike stolen?”
”A bike? Adriano is a person, a child emotionally fragile from all he”s suffered. I accept that you”re part of the villainesses without borders club, but for God”s sake, don”t make me believe that there isn”t a heart beating under all that stone.” I crossed my arms and didn”t respond. Because precisely I didn”t want it to beat. ”I”m going out for a walk, I need to clear my head, and you would do well to think about everything you”ve said in the meantime.”
”I”m not a child who needs to be punished in the thinking corner to know what”s right or wrong.”
”Your problem is that you”re too used to doing what”s wrong,” he reproached me.
”Mmm,” he sighed, ”that feels good!”
”But I haven’t even scratched you yet!” It was true, I was on the edge.
”But I like it when you touch me and are with me, it soothes me more than anything.”
”Well, it doesn’t soothe me.”
”You mean you don’t like touching me?” He narrowed his eyes.
”It doesn’t relieve me,” I cut off.
”But you do like touching me... or you used to until very recently.” I clenched my teeth thinking about what happened at the hotel.
I had resolved to distance myself from the brunette; he was a damn distraction that had almost cost us our lives. And what happened outside the club was a mess. Lucky for us, there were no living witnesses left. I managed to get my fingers in a little and tried to make room to carefully scratch him.
”Here?”
”Mmm, no, a bit more to the right, and... up...”
”Here?” I insisted, changing direction.
”No, no, lower, lower, lower, a bit further down.” I pulled my hand out and looked at him. He gave me a roguish smile. ”Keep going down,” he murmured, grabbing my wrist and guiding it towards his groin. He was fully erect. ”Yes, definitely here was where it itched and not higher, I was mistaken,” he mumbled, making me move my hand over his underwear.
”For this type of itch, you don’t need me.” I pulled my fingers away as if they burned. I didn’t want any kind of contact like that with him, not anymore.
I went to get up, but he intertwined his fingers with mine and pulled on me. I stumbled and he grimaced in pain.
”Don’t do anything stupid, you could hurt yourself.” His thumb traced circles on the palm of my hand.
”Oh, come on, Andrey, don”t screw with me.”
”Of course I won”t screw you, not now, not ever,” I replied, using the double meaning of the word.
”But what the hell are you talking about?” he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
”Getting intimate with you has been the worst decision I”ve ever made in my life. I should never have crossed that line and I won’t do it again.”
”You can”t blame what happened on what”s between us.”
”There”s nothing between us.” I stood firm. ”We’re forced to live together and be work colleagues, nothing more.”
”You don’t even believe that yourself. Do you really think just anyone turns me on like this?” He touched his groin for emphasis.
”I don’t care who turns you on, what I know is that this is as far as it goes and I won’t touch you with any intention other than to help you while you”re bedridden.”
”But I need you and want you to touch me, and I know you want it too, even if your mouth says otherwise.”
”Look, Aleksa, what happened, happened. It”s best we forget it, and if you need that kind of relief, just jerk off. At most, I can hand you the box of tissues and the lubricant.”
”It”s not the same. And no matter how much you despise what ”there is between us,”” he stressed, ”sooner or later you”ll realize you need me as much as I need you.”
”I don’t need you, and you don’t need me either,” I insisted. ”We had sex once when you drugged me. I jerked you off another time, forgetting I was at work and it almost cost us our lives. So, this ridiculous game ends here.”
I got up, finally freeing myself from his grip, and he made a gesture of pain that I ignored.
”Oh, and don”t ever ring that damn bell again or I”ll throw it so far it”ll end up in Lapland with its rightful owner.”
”And if I”m shitting?”
”Then fill that empty Nescafé jar,” I pointed to the said jar before storming out of the room and slamming the door.
As soon as I returned to the kitchen and took my place, everyone was silent with terrified faces. Maybe the slamming was too intense.
”What?!” I protested. No one spoke. ”Then let”s continue the game...”